Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s 2nd Largest Position

Mechanics Bank Trust Department trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,791 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,120 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.7% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,671,986,000 after purchasing an additional 9,259,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Gemini app has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users, strengthening the case that the company’s AI investments are gaining broad consumer adoption. Google’s Gemini app surges to one billion users
• Positive Sentiment: Ryanair signed a five-year Google Cloud agreement to deploy Gemini, DeepMind and Workspace tools across its 35,000 employees, providing another example of enterprise AI monetization. Ryanair signs five-year Google Cloud deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Alphabet as an attractive AI and cloud investment, citing strong Google Cloud margins and valuation support following its strong second-quarter results. Google Cloud margins supported Alphabet’s stock
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled Pixel 11 phones, the Pixel Watch 5, a $29 Pixel Tag and additional Gemini features, expanding its hardware ecosystem and opportunities to distribute AI services. Google unveils Pixel 11 lineup and Gemini features

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 540,470 shares of company stock worth $14,873,168. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $343.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.60 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $354.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $340.94.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.